The RoundHouse | 6/26/2025 1:18:00 PM
Today: Stories 2-4
2. The National Invitation Tournament started each strong era in Wichita State men's basketball, dating to the 1960's.
Though the circumstances are much different now, coach
Paul Mills hopes the 2025 NIT can signal a similar rise. The Shockers went 6-1 in February, highlighted by an 84-79 overtime win over No. 14 Memphis. The NIT rewarded the Shockers with their first post-season bid since 2021 and their first NIT bid since 2019.
WSU finished the season 19-15 after an NIT loss at Oklahoma State. That February rise and wins over Memphis, Kansas State and Minnesota showed the Shockers were capable of solid work.
Improvements on defense and rebounding made the biggest difference late in the season. Five January opponents shot 40 percent or better on three-pointers. In February, WSU held four of the six opponents under 25 percent.
"That month of January was very tough for us," guard
Xavier Bell said. "He's a solutions guy, identify problems and address them. We had a lot of very tough, connected, team conversations. We needed those moments."
Then Mills began remaking his roster. In the era of the transfer portal, Mills and his coaches emphasize that Wichita State is a place for serious basketball players who want to improve.
"You do want to reassure players that 'You'll be better. You're going to grow here,'" Mills said. "The better we can get the player, the better we can get the team."
They point to guard Bell, who averaged 4.0 points as a sophomore. As a senior, he averaged 15.2 points and made 34 percent of his three-pointers, up from 22.8 percent. He earned All-American Athletic Conference honors. Center
Quincy Ballard is another example with his path from little-used reserve to starter.
Mills is confident newcomers such as wing Brian Amuneke, a transfer from Fresno State, Nicholls State transfer Michael Gray Jr., and guard Kenyon Giles, from UNC Greensboro can score from the perimeter. Big men such as Monmouth transfer Jaret Valencia, Will Berg, from Purdue, Seton Hall transfer Emmanuel Okorafor and Temple transfer Dillon Battie are charged with bolstering the defense and rebounding.
3. The multi-events are Steve Rainbolt passion. Wichita State's director of track and field competed in the decathlon at Kansas, earning NCAA All-American honors in 1980. He is also passionate about track in the state of Kansas and developing its athletes into track and field performers.
At WSU, his athletes have earned 20 All-American honors during his tenure.
Destiny Masters may top that list for surprising even Rainbolt. Hip problems limited her high school experience at Bluestem and her marks made her a borderline recruit.
"She trained it out," Rainbolt said. "She knew nothing. She came here as a high jumper."
Masters finished her Shocker career with six All-American honors in the pentathlon (2024), heptathlon (2024, 2025) and high jump (2023 outdoor, 2024 indoor, 2024 outdoor). In June, she placed 10
th in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the heptathlon with a score of 5,763 points to earn second-team All-American honors.
"To have Destiny finish her final NCAA Championship in 10th for her sixth NCAA All-American performance is really meaningful, and I couldn't be prouder of her and all of her accomplishments," Rainbolt said. "This was certainly a highlight, probably second only to her sixth-place finish at the indoor championship a year ago in the pentathlon."
Yared Kidane and
Jason Parrish also earned second-team All-American honors in Eugene, Oregon. Kidane placed 10
th in the 800 meters with a time of 1 minutes, 46.86 seconds. Parrish also finished 10
th with a time of 50.26 seconds in the 400.
Josh Parrish earned honorable mention honors in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.68 seconds.
Joakim Genereux, the Parrish twins and Kidane ran a 3:10.61 for honorable mention in the 1,600-meter relay.
The Shocker men finished second in the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships.
Jason Parrish won the 400 hurdles with a time of 49.17 seconds to claim Most Outstanding Track Performance honors.
4. Wichita State volleyball dominated with defense for three days to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Shockers, seeded fourth in the AAC Championships, swept Tulsa, top-seeded South Florida and Florida Atlantic at Koch Arena to earn the automatic bid into NCAA play. WSU returned to the NCAAs for the first time since 2017.
"We just balled out," middle blocker
Morgan Stout said. "This has been a dream of mine ever since I got here. Being able to say I'm going to the NCAA Tournament with this team is the best feeling in the entire world."
WSU held Tulsa, USF and FAU to a .115 attack percentage, highlighted by USF's season-low .112. The three opponents totaled 66 attack errors, 20 more than the Shockers.
"Everyone just trusted each other a lot back there," libero
Katie Galligan said. "The block does a great job of setting up and slowing it down. We know we're going to get a ball right back to (the setter)."
Before the American Championships, the Shockers moved past an inconsistent regular season with a team activity. Every player wrote down issues they wanted to heal or forget in a meeting in the Champions Club. They lit the papers on fire and threw the ashes in a trash can outside the arena.
"We wrote down everything that made us (angry)," setter
Izzi Strand. "We honestly had a lot of pent-up emotions. We burned it. We let it go."
Stout earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the tournament, in addition to all-conference and AVCA All-Central Region honors. Strand joined her on the All-AAC team.
